Mon Valley Hospital buying the Willow Room

December 14, 2016

Barbara MillerObserver Reporter

Monongahela Valley Hospital Inc. plans to purchase the Willow Pointe Building, 800 Plaza Drive, Rostraver Township, which houses various hospital departments, doctors’ offices and a fitness center, according to a resolution presented Wednesday at an agenda meeting of the Washington County commissioners.

Although the facility will be in Westmoreland County, the Washington County Hospital Authority plans to issue bonds on the hospital’s behalf to finance all or a portion of the costs of acquiring, renovating and equipping it through notes, in two or more series, not to exceed $20 million.

The mailing address of the new facility, which some are calling “Healthplex,” will be Belle Vernon, and it is nine miles away from the 210-bed hospital. A public hearing on the project took place Nov. 3.

“The note was to complete a loan for the closing on the Willow Pointe property,” said Andrew Bilinsky, media specialist for Mon Valley Hospital. “We currently rent 70 percent of the building.” He said he had no additional details.

The Willow Room banquet hall at the same address posted this message Aug. 4 on its website: “Looking back on what we have built, it is with a heavy heart that we announce the pending closure of the Willow Room on Jan. 1, 2017. The building in which The Willow Room rents and operates is in the process of being sold, and while we regret not being able to host our 2017 reservations, the new owner will be converting the space for another important community-related use.”

The Loop.net website describes the property as a four-story building constructed in 2004, containing 108,366 square feet.

There is no liability to the county or taxpayers in approving the bond issue, said Scott Fergus, Washington County director of administration, but the resolution must be acted upon to satisfy public approval requirements of the code of Washington County that the development is “desirable for the health, safety and welfare of the people in the area” served by Mon Valley Hospital, in order to have the facilities financed through the authority.